King Funk

by N/A

Overview

These 24 cuts were released by the King label or King subsidiaries between 1967 and 1973 (with the exception of the previously unreleased "Don't Get Funky" by Gloria Walker). During the early stretch of that period, James Brown was carrying the whole King enterprise on his back. It comes as no surprise, then, that an anthology of non-Brown funk on the label during this period is heavily James Brown-influenced. You hear it up-front in the first two tracks, Bill Doggett's "Honky Tonk Popcorn" and Hank Ballard's "Butter Your Popcorn," attempts by two fading R&B stars to ride James Brown's "Popcorn" hits. Overall, this is adequate, but not noteworthy, period funk; none of the performers are recognizable to anyone but collectors, except for the Coasters (who do an ill-advised 1972 remake of "Love Potion No. 9") and the aforementioned Ballard and Doggett. As is so often the situation on second-tier soul anthologies, the derivative nature of much of the material is real in-your-face: Roosevelt Matthews' cover of Archie Bell's "Tighten Up" could not hope to make anyone forget the original; the Presidents do the late-'60s James Brown routine on "Gold Walk" (as does Little Royal on "Soul Train"); the Sons of Funk do their best to emulate the smoldering funk of the JB's on the two-part "From the Back Side." This CD is not a bad secondary acquisition for the funk fanatic, mind you -- just nothing to jump up and down about. The set is at least made more listenable by some variety among the instrumentals and between the male and female vocalists. ~ Richie Unterberger

Product Details

Release Date:	11/27/2000
Label:	Bgp
UPC:	0029667513517
Rank:	77509

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Sons of Funk   Primary Artist
Over Night Low   Primary Artist
Gloria Walker   Primary Artist
J Hines & the Fellows   Primary Artist
James Duncan   Primary Artist
Marie Queenie Lyons   Primary Artist
The Presidents   Primary Artist
Roosevelt Matthews   Primary Artist
Bill Doggett   Primary Artist
Hank Ballard   Primary Artist
Soul East   Primary Artist
Toby King   Primary Artist
Dan Brantley   Primary Artist
Little Royal   Primary Artist
James K-Nine   Primary Artist
The Coasters   Primary Artist

Technical Credits

Roger Armstrong   Memorabilia
Sons of Funk   Performer
Jerry Leiber   Composer
Nick Robbins   Mastering
Mike Stoller   Composer
Ady Croasdell   Memorabilia
Dan Brantley   Composer
Gloria Walker   Performer
Archie Bell   Composer
Toby King   Composer
Bill Millar   Memorabilia
Dale Brown   Composer
James Duncan   Composer,Performer
Hank Ballard   Composer,Performer
Helene Martin   Composer
Bill Doggett   Composer,Performer
Tyrone Harris   Composer
Eddie Bocage   Composer
Willie Murray   Composer
Marie Queenie Lyons   Performer
Little Royal   Performer
Huey P. Meaux   Composer
Dean Rudland   Liner Notes
John Davenport   Composer
Charles Spurling   Composer
Eddie Cooley   Composer
Clifford Scott   Composer
Arthur Butler   Composer
Fred Wesley   Composer
James Brown   Composer
Billy Buttier   Composer
Rose Marie McCoy   Composer
Billy Butler   Composer
Berisford "Shep" Shepherd   Composer
Peter Gibbon   Memorabilia